The African Development Bank (AfDB) is supporting the cultivation of rice, maize, cassava and soyabeans to boost food production in Nigeria.
The bank is providing 134 million dollars to achieve this, it’s president, Dr Akinwunmi Adesina, on Saturday stated this after a visit to the Centre for Dryland Agriculture (CDA) at Bayero University, Kano State.
The CDA is a World Bank-supported centre established to serve as a regional training hub for the West and Central Africa sub-regions.
Bayero University, Kano, established the centre in 2012 as part of its efforts to address development challenges of the dry land areas of the sub-regions.
Adesina told the media that the bank would support Nigeria to cultivate 300,000 hectares each of rice and maize, 150,000 hectares of cassava and 50,000 hectares of soyabeans during the 2024 planting season
“This March, the AfDB is supporting Nigeria to cultivate 118,000 hectares of heat-tolerant varieties of wheat and another 150,000 hectares of maize.
“We live in an era of climate change and yet only three per cent of African agriculture is under irrigation. We have to make sure we help our farmers with information that is timely and appropriate.
Adesina further praised the Vice-Chancellor of Bayero University, Kano, Prof. Sagir Adamu-Abbas; the Director, CDA, Prof. Jibrin Mohammed-Jibrin; for assisting farmers with access to technology in the face of climate change.
In his remarks, Mohammed-Jibrin, said the CDA is renowned for its research and teaching in development initiatives, focusing on dry land agriculture.
“The centre is dedicated to improving livelihoods, resilience and sustainable use of natural resources in African dry lands through training and demand-driven research,’’ he said.
Chinedum Anayo